Steel Magnolias
by Bos05
Summary: After sleeping together for the first time, Yumiko takes in all of Magna's tattoos. During a quiet, intimate moment between them, she asks what they stand for. The raven haired is taken aback by the response.


Why did we wait so long for this?" Magna shook her head, sucking in several sharp breaths as she fell down heavily onto the mattress.

"I don't know," Yumiko replied breathlessly beside her, her chest heaving and body slicked with sweat. "I did say we were going to make up for lost time," a smirk graced her lips, causing Magna to laugh.

"Fuck"

"I believe that's what happened...more than once, actually," Yumiko momentarily closed her eyes, feeling fully sated as her bones sank lax and loose in the bed. She sucked in another breath, moving to roll over onto her side, her hand mindlessly reaching out to Magna's shoulder.

Yumiko's fingers ran up and down the brunette's arm, lightly tracing the outline of her tattoos and leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. Magna turned to face her, her lips curling into a smile.

"Tell me something," Yumiko whispered intimately between them, her hair splayed across their shared pillow.

"Tell you what?"

"Anything," Yumiko's fingers continued to move up and down her arm and entranced. "Something no one else knows about you."

"Like what?" Magna asked quietly, her brown eyes peering into brown eyes.

"I don't know," Yumiko murmured, a smile tugging on her lips as her eyes took in the full flowing pattern of Magna's tattoos.

"These are beautiful," Yumiko commented without realizing, following the seamless transition of petaled swirls from her arms onto her chest. "It's the first time I've seen them in their entirety."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Magna acknowledged the remark.

"What do they mean?" Yumiko's fingers stilled, curious as to the response. "Do they stand for something? Or, did you get them because they were pretty?" Yumiko lightly teased, unaware of the real reasoning held behind them. Magna paused at the posed question—the smile on her face faltering.

"Mag?" Yumiko didn't miss the indeterminable flash in the brunette's eyes, observing as she shifted to sit up in the bed; her back leaned heavily against the headboard; her mind clearly in a different headspace. Yumiko mirrored Magna's movements, and the warm bed sheet fell down and pooled around her waist as she sat up beside her.

"Mag?" Yumiko voiced in confusion, unable to determine the thoughts held behind distant eyes. Magna bit her lip.

"Steel Magnolias," the brunette released a breath at the surprised admission; her eyes cut to the side as pain-filled memories managed to erupt and had worked their way closer towards the forefront of her mind—slicing open scabbed over wounds of her past and causing them to bleed.

"What?"

Magna turned her head, catching as Yumiko's brow furrowed in question. She cleared her throat, stumbling in trying to find her words.

"Steel Magnolias. It's a—was—a movie," Magna eyed as Yumiko tilted her head, noting as her chapped lips pushed upward as she attempted to make any sort of a connection point. She let out a soft chuckle, reacting as Miko finally shook her head in curious defeat.

"Yeah, I'm familiar with it—saw the film—but..."

Magna licked her lips, rubbing her ungloved hands mindlessly together, as she willfully chose to return to another repressed memory from her shaded, mostly unspoken of past. She swallowed thickly, struggling against the ever present lump in her throat.

"My dad, he was from Greece—he was Greek to the core. But my mom, she was from America. And so growing up, she wanted to introduce me to...god, what did she call them? Classics," Yumiko watched as a hint of a spark flashed across the brunette's unguarded eyes; surveyed as a small smile ghosted over her tight lips with fondness.

"Steel Magnolias was one of her favorites. Which, it's a stupid name—title," Magna shook her head, her brow slightly furrowing. "A fucking flower, indestructible, but..." She shrugged her shoulders, the flash of spark near-instantly fading. Yumiko didn't miss as the ghost of her smile turned downwards to morph seamlessly into a melancholic frown.

"I remember before she died, she called me to her room. There were so many tubes; wires; IV; oxygen," Magna jutted her jaw, picking at her fingers. She sniffled.

"I remember she said to me, she said: Magnolia. Mag, sometimes...sometimes life's not fair. It's tough—unpredictable. But, even when it gets tough—even when I don't think I can—she said I had to rise above; said I had to be strong but beautiful," Magna's throat visibly bobbled, attempting to work at the rough, emotional gravel. Yumiko's brow furrowed in empathy at the sight, and her fingers itched to grab a hold of the brunette's fidgeting hands; to desperately lift and smooth away the deep crease of her brow.

Magna sniffled again, her eyes burning and blurry as hot tears welled and teetered on the precipice of her long, dark lashes. She released an uneven breath.

"I didn't know what she meant at the time. I was a kid. But, when she died, with my dad, going to prison, it eventually made sense—clicked," a single tear managed to break past the emotional dam, leaving in its wake a warm, burning trail down her cheek. Magna wiped reflexively at its remnant, jutting and tightening her jaw.

"I knew that when I got out—things—they would never be the same for me," her head hung low. "My family—what was left—they weren't talking to me; jobs; people. They would never look at me the same; wouldn't treat me the same," Magna shook her head, vainly swallowing before daring to look up. A shot of warmth instantly filled her stomach, started to creep up and made residence in her chest, as she was met with gentle, non-judgmental eyes. Yumiko's gaze never wavered, not once, giving her the courage she needed to continue.

"I knew I had to be tough when I got out. So, I got this," her hand traveled up to her arm and shoulder; her fingers ghosting over the colored, ornate petals as if they provided her with unspoken strength. "I got my tattoos—armor—as a reminder to be strong...beautiful," Magna bit her lip, feeling exposed and self-conscious at revealing such a raw, intimate part of herself to someone else. Yumiko was unsurprised at the following hollowed laugh, having learned that the brunette's coping and self-defense mechanism was one of sarcasm.

"Or, I got it because it was pretty," Magna shook her head, trying to make light and recant it all.

"Yeah," Yumiko replied softly, seeing right through the paper thin facade. She didn't push though—didn't question; just sat in silence as Magna licked her lips, a haunted look still evident in her eyes.

...

"Hey Mag," Yumiko treaded gingerly, easing the brunette out of the lingering crash of memories.

"What?"

"Thank you," Yumiko voiced simply, quietly, causing Magna's head to tilt.

"For what?"

Yumiko's lips turned upward into a small smile, her chest spreading with warmth.

"For sharing; for trusting me with just another small part of your past. I know it's not easy for you," Yumiko swallowed thickly, judging how Magna was going to react. The brunette looked un-phased, and her hands moved between them as she replied in insinuation.

"Well, I figured since we were...you know," Magna stopped herself mid reply, bit down on the inside of her cheek, as she mentally kicked herself. She didn't mean to downplay her feelings for Yumiko; didn't want to make light of the real reasoning why she had entrusted her with knowing parts of her past that no one else knew about.

The brunette let out a breath, heavy and re-setting, and she attempted again.

"Hey Miko," Yumiko's stomach flipped the moment her eyes took in the timid look uncharacteristically conveyed upon Magna's face; as her brain registered and dissected the hesitant, hushed words and underlying message subtly interwoven between them all. Yumiko remained frozen in place, unmoving save for her hands that gripped tightly onto the bed sheet that draped loosely around her waist.

"I know," Yumiko whispered aloud, feeling her own eyes beginning to sting. The raven haired slowly re-gained enough functioning of her body to gently nod her head, as if able to read Magna's mind, and she acknowledged the mutual, unspoken words and feelings shared between them.

"I know," Yumiko leaned forward in tender re-iteration, placing a warm kiss to Magna's forehead; her hands moving from the bed sheet to reverently run up and down the brunette's tattooed arms—her armor.


End file.
